


three blind mice

by callixto



Category: Servamp (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Babysitting, Dubious Domesticity, During Canon, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-11 04:01:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16468310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/callixto/pseuds/callixto
Summary: The prodigal trio steal a day to care for Takuto between Jun's return and canon kicking into high gear.





	three blind mice

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Midnight_Run](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Midnight_Run/gifts).



Carefully, with his trembling hands, Tsurugi folded up one of those perfect paper planes of his. Takuto clapped his hands in glee as it sailed past his nose, reaching out with his baby-soft grip -- Yumikage ruffled at his hair tolerantly, and it distracted him long enough to let the elegant shape nosedive into the wall.

“Again!” he huffed, and Yumi rolled his eyes just as he would at Tsurugi. 

“Yanno, if you grab ‘em, they’ll stop flying. It won’t be as fun to watch,” he scolded, his voice low and fond.

Tsurugi was already folding up another, this one a crimson red, as Takuto pouted up at him. “Yumi-chan, this is why you’re the boring father,” he lilted, and threw the next just out of Takuto’s reach.

The door swung open with the perfect timing, and this time the plane hit Junichirou’s glasses dead on. He flinched, eyes naturally closing at the impact; half-muffled, Tsurugi let out a laugh, and the plane fell discarded to the floor. 

\-- “Hey, come to think of it, are we getting paid for this?” 

Even Jun’s gentle temper guttered at that, the door slamming shut behind him with a decided click! He took off his glasses, rubbed irritated at his eyes to clear the crossed pain from them, and flopped down next to his son. “Hell no, you’re not. You owe me, remember, Tsurugi? You can deal with not making extra on your break, you bad influence.”

He laughed and agreed, sheepish -- by his standards, if solely at the reminder -- and Yumi threw an elbow into his side on general principle.

“Hell,” Takuto repeated, and Yumi rubbed at his temples.

“Ain’t my fault!” he hurried to say before Tsurugi could, and Jun glared balefully at the both of them. “Ya shouldn’t talk like that around your kid, dumba- dummy. ‘ts a worse influence than Tsurugi.”

Tsurugi nearly preened. “It could be worse,” he offered, still smug. “Being able to curse never hurt a child! I’m fine, aren’t I?”

 _‘Is that the word for it.’_ Jun and Yumi exchanged a look in perfect unison; the tension between the three of them as natural as it ever had been. “...Mhm.” Jun turned away, pulling open the plastic bag he’d left discarded next to him - handed a wrapped, small conbini meal to each of them with a frown. “I’m gonna make dinner if you two can keep watching him, but to hold you over —? It’s not very healthy, but it’ll serve.”

Tsurugi’s delight escalated by a scale of magnitude, his eyes brightening to a worrying level of mania. “You mother hen~!” he chirped, and pulled the familiar packaging close. His hands, still injury-shaky, tugged perfectly along the seal.

“I could have gotten that for you,” Yumi said flatly, and tapped his fingers against the ground til Jun looked back at him. 

“Eatin’ one unhealthy thing ain’t gonna kill us - more like, can you even cook now?”

Deliberately, Jun clapped his hands over Takuto’s ears. “If you’re going to complain then starve, you bastard. My mom taught me, even if it took me this many years to try and listen right.” He hadn’t _needed_ to for so long, but he bristled anyway.

Takuto squirmed under his father’s hands, tugging away with a sulky expression. “L’mme hear,” he complained. 

Tsurugi waved his food lazily in the air, catching Takuto’s attention and baiting him closer before the others could blink. “Your papa is just being mean! Don’t worry about it, don’t worry about it - have some of my snack!” His smile softened, watching Takuto eat what he’d so happily taken from his hands.

“...Well?” he asked, and waved a hand in the air. “Go ahead and cook like a proper father, Jun-chan~! Yumi might complain, but I won’t. Takuto might _starve_ if you take any longer.” 

He laughed, unduly amused in his unsettling way, and propped his chin back on his hands. “I’ll share, of course, but --”

“ -- you shouldn't,” Yumi interrupted, voice pitched low and comforting, and swatted at Jun til he stood for the kitchen. “You gotta eat too, so he’s gonna hurry. No one’ll starve.”

Tsurugi smiled, and kept watching Takuto eat his untouched food. 

With an easy flick of his wrist, the balled up wrapper of Yumi’s own conbini bounced off Tsurugi’s forehead. He scooted closer as Tsurugi drew back with a startled, sulky noise. “Brat,” he huffed, and drew his chopsticks through his food in a dividing line.

“You’re gettin’ too childish again. You’re already 24, so eat properly; Jun already scolded you for bein’ a bad influence too.”

It was easier for Yumi to look down at his food than Tsurugi when he was like this, nudging the box closer to his knee til he reached for it as well. He broke apart Tsurugi’s own set of chopsticks without being asked, trusting to Takuto’s (temporary) distraction as he handed them back.

“Eat that, and I’ll check on dinner.”

Yumi escaped to the kitchen, a lump high in his throat. 

Though when Jun turned to him, a ladle in his hand and an old apron of Shifumi’s tied around his waist, he smiled even so. 

“..Hey, don’t grin at me like that. Pink is better than getting my uniform dirty.” Jun pushed his glasses back up his nose, wiped off as much of the steam from cooking as he could.

Rubbing his temples, Yumi propped himself against the wall and out of the way. “Not makin’ fun,” he offered quietly, and let himself close his eyes to rest the throbbing heartbeat in his head and throat. The sounds of cooking never quite stopped, easing off naturally as Jun finished up til Yumi felt a cool hand against his forehead.

“Take the futon out if you need to, Yumikage. I can take care of Takuto on my own - ‘specially with Tsurugi around to play with him, you have to rest if you’re hurting.”

“C’mon, like he’s reliable at all? Don’t make me laugh, Jun.”

The unmistakable, if quiet, sound of a paper plane crashing into the wall hit, and Yumi rammed his elbow back into the thin wall. “I knew you were listening in!”

Jun rapped him on the forehead, as suddenly as he’d stroked his pain away. 

“If either of you break my wall,” he said flatly, “you’re paying my deposit. I’ll tuck you into bed myself if it stops you fighting, children.” Jun hadn’t had to pitch his voice to carry, given the ‘quality’ of his apartment, and as Tsurugi lapsed back into silence from the other room, that comfortable hush fell back over Jun and Yumi.

“‘ll be fine.” Yumi pressed his forehead against Jun’s shoulder, leaned in close; wrinkled his nose, the slightest bit, and gave in. “Y’can be the one to negotiate feeding them, though. I’m gonna stay in here.” He tugged, almost as an afterthought, at Jun’s familiar apron strings, and it fell away into his hands.

Jun left him with his head pillowed on the apron and a soft kiss to the cheek, food propped on his hip as he headed back into the main room. 

The casual sounds of their conversation bled back into the background.

Dinner _had_ been quick -- soft, simple foods to comply both to Takuto’s age and Jun’s weariness. He was old enough to feed himself, even if he made something of a mess. 

Tsurugi liked helping, though. 

Playing ‘airplane’ with a set of chopsticks was less of a game in destruction than folded planes, thankfully enough. Takuto laughed with each bite, and Tsurugi’s small, cat-like smile never faltered.

It was heartwarming, watching someone else care for his son. Jun could watch patiently, with no fear of anything more happening to break his trust. Tsurugi might be unstable, but he wouldn’t hurt a child purposely, unprompted -- he believed that with his whole heart.

His own eyes drooped in the dimming light, tired satisfaction curled comfortably in his chest. Jun wasn’t drifting off, not in the same way as Yumi; he’d had quite a nice, bracing walk to and from the store, knowing his remaining family was safe and happy together. When heated fingers touched his own temples in an echo of how he’d comforted Yumi, he opened his eyes with little surprise.

Tsurugi pulled Jun’s glasses from his nose, propping them on his own and waving two fingers in greeting as he blinked back to full consciousness of his position. “Not going to eat, yourself?” he asked dryly, and Jun only smiled. 

“I ate while I was cooking. I didn’t want to have to clean up even more of a mess.”

A sulky look crossed Tsurugi’s face, though it turned calculating quickly. “Then you ought to have enough energy to play around.”

Hesitantly, Jun agreed, one eyebrow quirking up. “Probably, but don’t think me fool enough to go along with anything sight unseen. I know how you are, Tsurugi-chan.”

Tsurugi jumped to his feet, dusting imaginary filth from his bony lap as he shoved a hand into Jun’s face. He pulled Jun up with his own cooperation, and leaned in close, wobbling back and forth gaily. 

— Smiling, Jun reclaimed his glasses, and met his eyes face-to-face.

They swayed there in silence in the middle of the floor, a lazy dance playing on the little energy they’d reserved for themselves. It would be thoughtless to lose themselves, ignoring the weight of the rest of the world and their responsibilities — but no one could begrudge a stolen moment. 

They weren’t interrupted til Takuto bumped into Jun’s leg, reaching his arms up in a childish demand. “Me too!”

Tsurugi laughed, swinging him up into his arms with only a slight wince, and set him on his own feet to ‘dance’ with Jun as well. “Of course, of course~ we wouldn’t leave you out, you know. Your father was just spoiling me a bit!”

His eyes back on Takuto, knowing for well and good where all his family were, Jun relaxed the final inch that he could. His smile shaded soft and sweet, and he ruffled his son’s hair fondly. 

They danced like that til Yumi returned, breaking apart not as if to hide it but naturally coming to an end.

The strained tension in his shoulders and the lines around his eyes had softened, and he muffled a yawn into his hand as Jun and Tsurugi stepped away from each other. 

Takuto had half-dozed off, clinging sleepily to Tsurugi’s skinny legs, by the time they pulled apart. It was the work of a moment for Jun to lift him, sticky hands coming away from Tsurugi only reluctantly — though Tsurugi didn’t seem to note the loss.

Jun cradled Takuto to his shoulder; smiled over at Yumi’s tired expression. “Feeling better?”

Under his breath, Tsurugi muttered something accusing. Jun whacked him without looking, careful not to jostle his son. 

“Mm. Yeah, thanks for the break.”

(“I didn’t get a break,” Tsurugi huffed, repeating himself, and was soundly ignored.)

“Isn’t childcare tiring?” There was laughter in Jun’s voice, more at himself than out of any malice, and he handed Takuto over to the prodigal, returned caretaker smiling crooked and honest. “You let me relax a bit. I did miss you, while I was —“ _grieving_ , he didn’t say, “- staying with mom. Takuto missed you, too.”

His (late) point stood, even made on dubious honesty; leaving out any tacit admission of feelings. That wasn’t any of their specialty, really. 

The conversation dropped into a lull to match Yumi and Takuto’s tired eyes, Tsurugi sitting idle and Jun calm in the silence. Gradually, they moved to spread out the futons and get comfortable; Takuto never stirred, and they’d all long since learned how to sleep on the job. 

— Vampire hunting was a different scope than resettling with each other and caring for a child, of course, but — Jun’s temporary loss hadn’t cut into their long-practiced teamwork, feeling clumsily around the holes as if at a healing wound.

Sprawled across the floor like much younger men, with Takuto curled between two of their sides, they fell into sleep. 

They’d remember this night, as many others, later, but for now they could piece together what they could of a family.

**Author's Note:**

> this is really more of a treat at this point, but i hope it will make you smile anyways! my area has had some issues with power that meant i couldn't get in touch with the mods til it was already late so this posting might come as a surprise;; thank you very much for the excuse to get back into a series i missed, though, and happy fandom growth ☆


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